News Round-Up: September 2021

In an interview with Score: The Podcast, James Newton Howard spoke about Fantastic Beasts 3 and working with David Yates on the score:

“I just presented David Yates with the first six reels of Fantastic Beasts three. So, I’ve been working on the material I just showed him for four months, so it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I started the movie last week, here’s my first ideas’. No. These are ideas that I have been shaping – close to two hours of music that I sent him – and there’s a whole bunch of notes, and it’s okay, I’m okay with that because how can you expect a director, who’s listening to a temp score for months in their movie to immediately embrace this brand new bunch of music from the composer. I mean, it’s just not human nature to be able to do that, so I expect, I won’t call it resistance, but I expect it to be a conversation. And David’s notes are extremely clear and I can’t argue with them because I get it, you know. It’ll be like, ‘Mm, you’re missing this point’, or, ‘You’re missing – this is a thread that really matters in the story. This is something that is, ultimately, the most important idea and I don’t feel like we’re really underscoring that in the way we should be’. So, you know, these kinds of things David, or any other director who really knows what they want to do, will point out things that I missed. As smart as I like to think I am, and as intuitive as I think I am, I need help.

I’m super excited about the Beasts movie, I think it’s by far the best one, it’s really good. Mads Mikkelsen is playing Grindelwald, he’s so great, and it’s just great. It’s full of magic, and scary stuff, and romantic – it’s just really fun.”

Preston Park Museum in Stockton-on-Tees has announced they will be hosting a Behind the Seams exhibition which will feature Fantastic Beasts in its costume displays. Tickets must be pre-booked and the event will run from October 12th 2021 until February 19th 2022.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was revealed as the title for the upcoming third film in the franchise, with a brand new global release date of April 15th 2022.

Not only that, but the official plot synopsis has also been released:

Professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers. But with the stakes so high, how long can Dumbledore remain on the sidelines?

Warner Bros has revealed the new release date for Secrets of Dumbledore in France: April 13th 2022.

Total Film has confirmed the new Secrets of Dumbledore release date for the Czech Republic: April 14th 2022.

If you’re a Wizarding World Gold member be sure to check your emails as WWD have announced that the service won’t be going ahead for a third year.

We’re writing to let you know that from 27th October 2021, Wizarding World Digital LLC will no longer sell Harry Potter Fan Club Gold memberships and existing Gold subscriptions will not renew after this date.
As your Gold membership is due to expire or auto-renew after 27th October 2021, this means you will not be able to renew when your current subscription term ends, although you will still be able to access and use your Gold membership benefits until the end of your current subscription on 12th Nov 2021.

For further help, or if you have any questions about your Harry Potter Fan Club Gold membership, see our FAQs here.

Warner Bros has announced that the UK & Ireland will be getting Secrets of Dumbledore a full week earlier than the general release date – April 8th 2022!